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Trump accuses CBS of editing him out of context on abortion

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Friday, November 19, 2016.

By:
CNN Wire

Posted at 5:35 PM, Apr 02, 2016

and last updated2016-04-02 19:36:52-04

By Eugene Scott

CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Donald Trump suggested Saturday that a controversial interview he gave about abortion was edited out of context.

Trump made headlines Friday when he told CBS’s John Dickerson on “Face the Nation” that he believes federal laws should not be changed to outlaw abortion.

“At this moment the laws are set. And I think we have to leave it that way,” Trump said in an interview with CBS’s John Dickerson on “Face the Nation.”

CBS released excerpts Friday night, and the full interview will air Sunday morning.

Soon after, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said Trump was giving “an accurate account of the law as it is today and made clear it must stay that way now — until he is president.” She added that Trump, if elected, would change laws to “allow the states to protect the unborn” and insisted his position had not changed.

But speaking in Racine, Wisconsin, Saturday afternoon, Trump said CBS “took words out that I said.”

“They can take something you say and turn it around. Like I will be on CBS’s ‘Face the Nation.’ What I said was perfect,” Trump explained, adding, “What I said was so good. It was so perfect. And they looked and said, ‘Oh, maybe he should have added a word.'”

“Well, actually the way it came out, they took words out that I said,” he added. “The only reason I tell you this is because I want you to watch it. If I did something wrong, I wouldn’t want you to watch it.”

Trump then said that the press often edits his words and that the practice isn’t applied to other candidates.

“The problem is they don’t do it with everybody. They do it with me. But I don’t see them doing it with other people,” he said.

A CBS News spokeswoman told CNN Saturday that “nothing in that section he reference was edited.” A message left with Hicks seeking additional comment was not immediately returned.

The Republican front-runner attracted significant attention this week after attempting to repeatedly clarify his views on abortion. On Wednesday, he made headlines when he told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that there should be “some form of punishment” for women who get abortions if the procedure was outlawed. Hicks later walked back the comments.